I Was a Weird Kid

It was third grade when a teacher at a new school figured out that I might need glasses. On the way home from getting my first pair of glasses I read a billboard out loud from the back of the car. My two younger brothers (who couldn’t read yet) got very excited. We got ice-cream, they liked me, but the glasses where just another reason I was different.

Up to that point I had mostly kept to myself, in retrospect probably because I couldn’t see out past the length of my elbow. Now I could connect with the world, but ironically still socially isolated. Now I knew.

Awkward, geeky, lonely, I got lost in books and building plastic models. Then I joined a cadet corps, learned to march and shoot, earned my pilot’s license, forged my mother’s signature on a permission form and took her car for a weekend of parachuting. I spent a summer back-packing in Europe, went to school and learned to program. I built a meaningful career building things that mattered, raised a family, grew up, and fell in love again. It got better and kept getting better.

Always learning, always sharing

I’ve learned a lot over the last 35 years of being an adult, and I like sharing what I know. It’s why I’ve been a business coach the last nine years. It’s been amazing. It’s a really cool virtuous circle. I learn from every client and apply many of those learnings to my life, then often share them with the next client.

And I’ve wanted to write a book since I was that geeky kid, but not just any book that anyone else could write. So when I heard “the best do the basics better“, it hit me: that’s the book! The speaker was talking about physical training and firearms instruction, but the same principle applies to many different things. You know, like being able to see the blackboard…that’s a basic requirement for learning. Or being able to see facial expressions and body language when making friends.

What are the “basics” of a successful and meaningful life? What are the simple things outstanding people do well in leadership? I started writing topics headings, and by the time I finished I had three books worth. And that was just from a work/business/entrepreneur perspective.

So here’s my ask:

What are the process, tools, tricks, routines, or habits do you rely on to make your life meaningful? Reduce friction in the daily grind? Be more effective? Do better? What works for you at the personal, leadership, or company level? What are the simple things that you’ve tried that didn’t work?

Let me know either in the comments, or by email, or however you like. I look hearing from you all…and thank-you.